


Because I Like You

by OnTheGround2012



Series: What If It's You? [3]
Category: Spooks | MI-5, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Attraction, Collage, Confessions, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Crossover, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Human Jackson, Love/Hate, M/M, Nobody is Dead, One-Sided Attraction, Opposites Attract, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Questioning, Questions, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Stiles Wears Glasses, Subways, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 15:38:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13056972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnTheGround2012/pseuds/OnTheGround2012
Summary: Stiles still doesn't know Jackson's name but he finds out what he does for a living, and he's in trouble.





	Because I Like You

**Author's Note:**

> I must say that I love feedback, so I'd love to know what you think. I hope you'll like this new chapter. 
> 
> If you want to support me, come visit me on my [Tumblr.](http://otg2012.tumblr.com)
> 
> Adam Carter is one of my favorite characters ever but you don't need to have seen Spooks to follow the story. I'll say that writing him and Jackson talking to each other has been the best thing about this story because I love them both so much... so yeah, it's been an awesome experience and I just hope somebody else will enjoy it.
> 
> Posted on Tumblr for stackson week 2017. Two chapters left.
> 
> Thanks so much to my amazing beta, WhenAngelsFall, for her help as usual; she's wonderful and I couldn't share this without her advice.

 

  
 

 

Jackson is sitting at his desk looking at his computer screen when Adam approaches him, standing next to him.

“You shouldn’t have brought him here,” his boss says, crossing his arms and looking down at him. Jackson looks at his friend and sighs. “Yeah? And what was I supposed to do exactly? Interrogate him in the street?”

“How about taking him to a safe house?” Adam waves his right arm.

“Sure, because you didn’t flip out the last time I used a safe house.”

“That was totally different and _you_ know it. You used a CIA safe house, unauthorised. For personal reasons. This time you would have obviously called me… or did I really need to say that?”

“Shit. I know this was the right call. I know the guy is hiding something. I’ve seen him on the train before and he was definitely following me. So yeah, there’s a possibility that he’s been monitoring me… I don’t know.” Jackson shakes his head. “If he knows who I am, we need to know who he’s working for and this is the best place to find that out. That’s why I brought him here.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Adam crosses his arms again, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m not. I thought you trusted my instincts,” Jackson says with disbelief.

Adam snorts. “I recruited you, didn’t I? But we all make mistakes sometimes. Even _you._ ”

Adam turns around and Jackson sees him enter his office and sit behind his desk before taking his mobile phone from his jacket pocket. Jackson looks away and closes his eyes for a few seconds; he rests his head in his hands, elbows on the desk, and hopes that he didn’t fuck up.

At least Adam’s tone wasn’t his regular pissed off one. He’s heard that tone more times than he can count, and he’s seen the way his blue eyes darken when he’s really upset, and that wasn’t what he just saw. The way he sees it, if he did fuck up, his boss would most probably forget about it, but he really would hate to disappoint him. So, he’s got to be right about this guy, even if he hasn’t found anything on him so far.

He hopes it’s just a matter of time.

****

 

“Hey,” Lydia says as she enters the main room where Jackson’s desk is located with a few others. “He’s awake.”

“Okay, thanks.” Jackson turns to her.

“I guess _you_ are doing this…” Lydia says, looking at Adam’s office for a second.

“Yeah. Who else? This is my case, isn’t it?”

 

 

 

 

“I wouldn’t exactly call this a case…” Lydia smirks.

“I’ll call it whatever the hell I want to call it.”

Lydia knows Jackson too well by now to know when her coworker is tense and upset for all kinds of reason.

“Hey, whatever this is I want to help if I can. So yeah, do you want my help or not?”

Jackson sighs. “Yeah. Just keep working on the background check. Contacts, bank accounts, phone calls, flights out of the country, absolutely everything you can find--”

“Sure. Got it.” Lydia nods. She could say that she knows how to do her job, but for some reason today she’s feeling extra nice.

“Ask Isaac if you need help. He shouldn’t be working on anything urgent right now.”

“Okay. Just go,” Lydia says, waving her arm towards the stairs that take you down to where the interrogation rooms are located.

Jackson doesn’t reply. He simply heads to grab a coffee from the machine before heading downstairs.

  

 

 

****

 

When Stiles regains consciousness, he’s sitting in a chair in the middle of a room, a metal table in front of him. As he looks around him, the room is faintly lit and there’s nothing to see, nothing that can give him a clue about where he is or what happened to him. Looking at his hands in cuffs, he’s absolutely bewildered and, on top of that, his head hurts like hell.

“Hello! Anyone out there!” Stiles shouts. “I’m in here! In case you forgot about me!” Stiles shakes his head. “Shit. I’m in here!”

Nothing happens and all Stiles can do is replay what happened before. The more he thinks about it, the more confused he is.

Finally, fifteen minutes later, the guy from the train enters the room closing the door behind him.

“Finally!” Stiles says. “What the hell is going on?” Stiles asks. “Where am I?”

The stranger comes forward until he’s standing in front of Stiles carrying a cup of coffee. He snorts. “I think you got this wrong. I’m the one asking the questions here.” He leaves the cup on the table. “Let’s start by you telling me exactly who you are.”

“What? I don’t… I mean, you obviously stole my wallet and my bag, so you know who I am.”

The guy crosses his arms. “I strongly advise that you stop this.”

“Stop? Stop what?” Stiles frowns.

“Stop this. Stop fucking lying. Just tell me who you are and where you’re from, and then, we can move on from there!”

“Shit! I’m Stiles... Stiles Stilinski. And god, I’m American… Don’t I look American to you? Look, I don’t know what I’m doing here--”

“Again. Wrong answer. I said: Stop. Lying.” The guy keeps his voice even but menacing and leans over the table resting both hands hands on it. His face is just a few inches far from Stiles’s and, as fucked up as this whole thing is, Stiles can’t help but get distracted by having those eyes and lips so close to his. “I know your name is not Stiles. I know it’s a cover--”

“Wait!” Stiles interrupts him. “Yes! Okay, that’s not my birth name… but I mean, that’s _my_ name, I swear. That’s what people have called me since I was five! It is my fucking name!”

“Okay, let’s forget your stupid name for now. Who are you working for?”

“Working for?” Stiles licks his lips, he can feel his anxiety increasing. “Shit. That’s in my wallet too! My press pass is there. I’m a journalist. I work for the Herald Tribune, Just check it!”

Jackson turns around and doesn’t say anything.

“Why don’t you uncuff me? I haven’t done anything! And I’m thirsty, couldn’t you bring me some water?”

“You haven’t answered any of my questions! And here you are making demands!”

“What?” Stiles asks with disbelief. “I’ve answered all your fucking questions! You’re keeping me here against my will and I’m definitely late for work! At least tell me where the hell I am and what you’re accusing me of?” Stiles continues, starting to freak out. “Like, do I need a lawyer?”

Jackson snorts. “Spies don’t usually get a lawyer so easily, so stop this charade and start talking… because if you don’t, I’ll make you talk and believe me, you don’t want me to do that.”

“Spies?” Stiles asks when he realizes what the guy just said. “You think I’m a spy?” Stiles raises his eyebrows. “Me? Seriously?”

Jackson totally disregards Stiles’s questions. “Who. Are. You. Working. For? What are your instructions?”

“Instructions?” Stiles snorts. “I have no fucking instructions because I’m _not_ a spy. I’m a journalist. That’s all I am. And I’m not lying. You’ve got it wrong!”

“Shut up!” The guy shouts at him. “I saw you on the train. I _know_ you were monitoring me. So, who ordered you to follow me and why? What are your instructions?”

“I told you! I have no instructions and nobody asked me to follow you because--”

“You know we are looking into your accounts, your contacts, everything. Whatever you’re hiding, we’ll find it. So, stop wasting my time. This will go on until you tell me.”

“You don’t have the right to keep me here. I’m an American citizen and I have rights!”

“Okay. Last chance.” Jackson continues. “You have fifteen seconds to answer me. After that, I’m leaving and when I get back I’ll be much less patient.”

“God, you must be the worst spy in history if you think I’m one of you,” Stiles says, shaking his head.

“Ten seconds,” the guy says with authority.

Stiles sighs. As uncomfortable as he feels right now with the cuffs and everything, that’s not the worst. The worst is having to admit why he got into this mess; he’s never been in a more embarrassing situation, but admitting the truth may be the only way he will have a chance to get out of this, that is, if the guy believes him, which right now, doesn’t seem very likely.

“Fine,” Stiles says with resignation. “I was following you. That’s true. I’m not saying that I wasn’t. But you’re wrong about me. I’ve got no instructions of any kind and I’m definitely, no threat to you... or shit, to this country for that matter.” Stiles snorts and licks his lips. “Hell, I don’t even know your name.” Stiles admits in a defeated tone. “The truth is that I don’t know anything about you. I didn’t know what you do for a living until you came through that door… and right now, my best guess would be you’re CIA.”

“Okay, let’s _imagine_ for a second that I believe you.” Jackson waves his right arm. “Then, what business do you have following me? Wouldn’t you say that it’s a little suspicious?”

Stiles closes his eyes for second and sighs. “Yeah, when you put it like that, I know what it might look like… but I didn’t…” Stiles hesitates trying to find the best way to phrase it. Although it’s going to sound kind of pathetic no matter what expression he uses. He knows that. “I mean…”

“Sorry, your time is up.” Jackson turns around but as he reaches for the door handle, he hears it.

“Because I like you.” _Fuck._

“What did you just say?” Jackson turns around and, within a few steps, he’s in front of Stiles again.

“You heard me.” He certainly doesn’t feel like repeating it.

Jackson huffs a laugh. “Yeah. I heard you. But out of the million of stories I’ve heard… well, let’s say it’s up there with the more stupid ones.”

“Exactly. Do you think that a real spy would come up with an excuse like this?” Stiles raises his eyebrows expectantly.

“I…” Jackson is left speechless for a moment, it’s something that doesn’t happen to him anymore these days.

“But it’s not a excuse. It’s just the truth. Which I know might be lame or whatever to you… but all I know is that you take the 7:55 train every day and get off twenty minutes later. Then, three weeks ago you stopped getting the train and I wondered…” Stiles looks away from Jackson’s inquisitive gaze. “I wondered what happened to you. I wondered if you were okay, if maybe you moved or got another job. I didn’t know what to think. So I talked to Scott… well, he’s my best friend… so yeah, I told him about it and he reminded me that I was stupid because I should have talked to you. Right, like that’s so easy… and so when you came back this morning, I wanted to do it. I was supposed to get up and you know, talk to you. I mean, that was the plan, you know?”

“The _plan_?” Jackson smirks despite himself.

“Yeah… yeah. I had a _plan_. It might have been a stupid plan… but at least I had one.”

Jackson closes his eyes briefly as he shakes his head. Lydia, Adam and whoever else is watching the video feed must be having a blast right now.

“Anyway, since the plan didn’t exactly work--”

“You decided to follow me?” Jackson offers, his words condescending.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Stiles nods.

“I just… all I wanted was to know where you worked… you know, in case you disappeared again.” The more he says all this aloud, the crazier it feels and Stiles can’t even meet the guy’s gaze.

Jackson looks for a second to the place where he knows that hidden camera is located. He turns his face away from Stiles and runs his hand through his hair. This whole thing is so messed up. _How could this shit be happening to him?_ He hopes the guy is still lying but his gut is telling him that he’s telling the truth and the thing is, his gut is usually right.

“I know that--” Stiles tries to continue.

“You can’t do this!” So what, you go around following every guy you like? Do you have any idea the kind of the trouble you’ve caused me?”

“To the first question, no, I’ve never done it before… although I might have followed people I didn’t like. And to the second one, I’m sorry, but my head still hurts like hell, and you could have killed me, you know?”

Jackson snorts. “If I had wanted to kill you, you’d be dead,” the guy says in a tone that leaves no room for uncertainty.

“Contrary to popular belief, we don’t go around killing people. This isn’t ‘Jason Bourne’, you know? There’s no killing going on unless our mission is compromised.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Because let me tell you, it’s not working.”

“I don’t give a shit how you feel. You’ve put me in an impossible situation.”

“So, you believe me, right?”

Jackson can’t answer that question. He needs to speak to his colleagues first.

“If you’ve never done this before… Followed people... Why did you do it this time?”

“I already told you. I was afraid I’d never see you again--”

“Yeah, but why me?” Jackson is a spy, a professional one and he can’t imagine himself doing something like that. He’s never felt like that about anyone. It’s senseless to him.

“What do you want me to say? You want me to admit that I have a crush on you? That I think that you’re hot and mysterious, and I’ve never met anybody like you before? Is that what you wanted to hear? Because if that’s the case, congratulations!” Stiles huffs a laugh. “This must be the most humiliating and embarrassing moment of my whole adult life… Thank you very much.” Stiles says, looking at the table, avoiding Jackson’s gaze.

Jackson is pretty much in shock after that, even if he makes a good job of hiding it, and neither of them say a word after that for a few seconds.

“Okay, now that you know… any chance you can get these cuffs off me? My boss is going to fire me if he doesn’t hear from me. I _need_ my phone. Please.” Not that he thinks the begging will work on this guy, but he has to at least try.

“Yeah, about that… I need to talk to my boss first. And no, I don’t have the key. But I’ll see what I can do. I’ll be right back.”

“Fine.” Stiles says with resignation. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm otg2012 on Tumblr if you wanna share any thought or follow me there.


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